Chinese interference claims spark forced miner sell-off
Six companies, five of them based in China or Hong Kong, have been forced to sell their holdings in an Australian rare earth miner due to fears of foreign intervention.
Finance Minister Jim Chalmers has given overseas-owned businesses 14 days to divest their shares in Northern Minerals, a company hoping to mine dysprosium and terbium in Western Australia’s East Kimberley region.
The federal government views the rare earth miner as a key part of its efforts to combat China’s control of the global critical mineral supply chain, but Northern Minerals has been the subject of a series of boardroom disputes with mysteriously wealthy shareholders.
Dysprosium and terbium are used in the production of special magnets useful for electric vehicles, wind turbines and industrial robots.
In total, the sales by Hong Kong Ying Tak, Real International Resources, Qogir Trading and Service Co., Chuanyou Cong, Vastness Investment Group and Shongxiong Lin will affect a 17.5 percent stake in the mining company worth about $40 million.
“This decision was entirely consistent with the advice of the Treasury and the Foreign Investment Review Board. This is about protecting our national interests and ensuring compliance with our foreign investment framework,” Dr Chalmers told reporters in Brisbane on Monday.
“We operate a robust and non-discriminatory foreign investment framework and will take further action if necessary to protect our national interests on this issue,” he said.
In January, Vastness Investment Group, one of the companies now forced to divest, made an unsuccessful bid to oust Northern Minerals chairman Adam Handley.
Company and government officials suspect a concerted effort by Chinese shareholders to thwart the company’s efforts to build its projects.
The Foreign Investment Review Board believes that a group of Chinese nationals who had previously been forced to sell their assets gave their assets to Hong Kong Ying Tak, which was included in the latest sale order.
In March, Qogir, another of the companies named by Dr Chalmers, sold over 28 million shares but still retained a nearly five per cent stake in Northern Minerals.
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